The Houston Astros are reportedly considering it.
Multiple media are reporting that Red Sox coach Tim Bogar is on the list of candidates for the Houston Astros managing job, now held by Tony DeFrancesco on an interim basis.

Bogar is expected to interview for the Houston job in the near future.

DeFrancesco took over the Astros when former Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills was fired in midseason. He is expected to be a candidate for the full-time job, as is fiery Larry Bowa and probably some others.

Whoever gets the job won't have an easy task. The Astros are in the midst of a massive, strip-down-and-start-over rebuilding and took a 48-99 record into Tuesday night.

At one point, Houston lost 34 of 38 games.

Bogar was a holdover from Terrry Francona's staff in Boston, and his relationship with Bobby Valentine has been icy at best. Bogar's playing tenure with the New York Mets ended in 1996, when Valentine was the Mets manager, but Bogar has called that old news and immaterial to his current situation.

When the Red Sox announced last winter that Bogar would remain on staff, it was portrayed as a decision in which Valentine had much input. Nonetheless, the awkwardness of their relationship has been hard to deny.

Valentine has rarely if ever commented on Bogar's impact on the staff or the team, and it is widely accepted that the combination of holdover coaches, new coaches and an opinionated manager has been unwieldy.

Bogar, 45, remains a respected baseball man who won the Eastern League's manager of the year award in 2006 with Akron. This is not the first time his name has surfaced regarding a major league managing job.

His minor league managing record in more than 400 games is an impressive 250-168 (.601).

Whether he would be a serious candidate in Boston, if Valentine does not return, is anyone's guess. He was not on the short list of those interviewed to replace Francona.

Prior to his role as bench coach, Bogar coached first and third base. His results at third base were the source of criticism, especially early in his time there, but that has been common for many Red Sox coaches who have coached third base aggressively.

In Houston, bloggers and fans are already weighing in. Some point to Bogar's impressive background, but others question why Houston would dismiss Mills but then consider someone from the same Boston pipeline - leaving the perception of the Astros as Red Sox wannabes.

That might not be fair to Bogar, qwhose success with young players would seem to fit well with the rebuilding Astros. But it figures to be a source of comment if it looks as if he'll be hired.

In the public view, Mills has been generally absolved from blame as Houston has become baseball's worst team. When the Astros plummeted, he still wound up taking the hit from management.